Merrill - As odd as it may sound, hundreds of kids are enrolled in the Merill School District – without actually living anywhere near Merrill.That's the new reality of virtual school.Bridges Virtual Academy opened this year. Administrator John Hagemeister expected about 100 kids to enroll. Instead, he got 500 – from all over the state.That's because Hagemeister's idea is unique. Before Bridges, he homeschooled his own kids.
He wanted to combine the freedom of homeschooling with the resources of public school.The Reimer family of Arbor Vitae made the switch to Bridges this year."We do our schooling at home, but we're not technically homeschooling anymore," says Kathy Reimer.As a homeschooler, Reimer wasn't allowed to take part in public school classes.But Bridges Virtual Academy gives her more options."We did art lessons at the Campanile Center, piano lessons, and dance lessons for the girls," she said. "We probably could've provided one lesson for them, but this allows us to give them opportunities to do things we wouldn't normally be able to do."John Hagemeister started the academy with more opportunities in mind."These are taxpayers and if you homeschool, they don't get anything in return. Some people like it that way, because there's no entanglement, there's no extras," he said. "But if there's a way we can partner, why shouldn't we try? They're taxpayers, they're community members, they're looking for some kind of educational service through us, so let's try and do it."Taxpayers - including the Reimers - bought a computer for each of her kids. They also share an iPad and have access to teachers. There is a trade-off for that support. As a homeschooler, Reimer didn't have to evaluate her kids at all. Now, she has to administer school and state tests.But that doesn't bother her."The testing only confirms what I already know," she said. "Because you're homeschooling, you know your kids' strengths and you know your kids' weaknesses."But beyond the testing, Reimer still gets to do things her way. That's different from most virtual schools."A typical virtual school is like taking this and putting it online, the brick and mortar and putting it online, and that's not what they're looking for," Hagemeister said. "They're looking for something that's flexible, time wise, curriculum wise.""That opens up our ability to do things for our kids, and give them opportunities that we couldn't give them," Reimer said. "So that is a really great thing."